Resisting neoliberal planning by manifesting the right to the city with insurgent and tactical planning

Milián Bernal, D. (Examiner)
Pelsmakers, S. (Examiner)

Architecture

Activity: Evaluation, examination and supervision › Supervisor of master student

Description

Contemporary urban development processes are largely dominated by neoliberal planning principles, on a global level. The planning paradigm uses market-based mechanisms to guide decision-making in urban development. For example, by privatising urban areas, neoliberal planning policies have harmful effects on social and environmental justice. For more inclusive, democratic and sustainable urban development it is crucial to resist neoliberal planning. As a reaction to the current unsustainable urban development, this study manifests the concept of the right to the city. This work examines the current state of the right to the city in Finland and how its principles are implemented in practice. The aim is to explore institutional and noninstitutional ways of claiming this right. Theoretical study on the topic reveals that current Finnish policies fail to meet the objectives of the right to the city. Noninstitutional interpretations, such as self-organized planning practices, offer more promising ways to achieve the goals of the right to the city and challenge the neoliberal planning paradigm. The research problem addresses the difficulty for planners to resist neoliberal planning. This study suggests that in order for professional and nonprofessional planners to resist oppressive structures created by neoliberal planning, they should mobilize outside of insitutions and share their expertise in community-led urban insurgencies. A spatial intervention is conducted through autoethnographic action research to gain further insights on the topic. Theoretical research and intervention reveal the importance of emphasising insurgency in self-organised urban practices in order to support their counter-hegemonic aims. People should also have better access to information about their current rights to the city, so that they can exercise and expand them. Furthermore, the findings show that even though it is unlikely for a single intervention to achieve broader policy or hegemonic changes, the networks of insurgent practices can be the source of their emancipatory power. This research contributes to establishing the right to the city discourse in Finland and encourages further research on the topic.

Period	Feb 2023
Examinee
Examination held at	Tampere University
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

Contemporary urban development processes are largely dominated by neoliberal planning principles, on a global level. The planning paradigm uses market-based mechanisms to guide decision-making in urban development. For example, by privatising urban areas, neoliberal planning policies have harmful effects on social and environmental justice. For more inclusive, democratic and sustainable urban development it is crucial to resist neoliberal planning. As a reaction to the current unsustainable urban development, this study manifests the concept of the right to the city. This work examines the current state of the right to the city in Finland and how its principles are implemented in practice. The aim is to explore institutional and noninstitutional ways of claiming this right. Theoretical study on the topic reveals that current Finnish policies fail to meet the objectives of the right to the city. Noninstitutional interpretations, such as self-organized planning practices, offer more promising ways to achieve the goals of the right to the city and challenge the neoliberal planning paradigm. The research problem addresses the difficulty for planners to resist neoliberal planning. This study suggests that in order for professional and nonprofessional planners to resist oppressive structures created by neoliberal planning, they should mobilize outside of insitutions and share their expertise in community-led urban insurgencies. A spatial intervention is conducted through autoethnographic action research to gain further insights on the topic. Theoretical research and intervention reveal the importance of emphasising insurgency in self-organised urban practices in order to support their counter-hegemonic aims. People should also have better access to information about their current rights to the city, so that they can exercise and expand them. Furthermore, the findings show that even though it is unlikely for a single intervention to achieve broader policy or hegemonic changes, the networks of insurgent practices can be the source of their emancipatory power. This research contributes to establishing the right to the city discourse in Finland and encourages further research on the topic.